So a few days ago, I, with no intention to do this, set out in the streets of my city here with a copy of the Sermon on the Mount in both Arabic and English. I wasn't passing literature out or anything like that. I was mostly talking with people I already had met before, which is usually more effective. I would just drop by someone's hops and ask them to listen to me read something in Arabic and tell me if I was reading it well. I would read it, or they would read it. And we'd just see what happened.
One Muslim guy read the beautitudes and said, yes, this is really good. I asked the guy at the sandwich shop about "love your enemies"--is that even possible for people like us? The guy I was going to give the Sermon to was busy so I didn't even get to talk to him, which is ok. I ended up giving it away today to another guy I hadn't spoken with in a while. We talked for a good while. He is normally a very mellow person but he was upset about some local problems here. He invited me in to his business place and I sat down and ate flat bread and a mixture of fried, ground lamb and white onion (yummy). I listened to him for a long time. Friends of his came and went. I finally had the opportunity to give him the Sermon and he promised to read it.
I don't do this all the time. But every now and then...
4 comments:
Awesome! Do it more bro!!
Peace to you,
From the Middle East
-I don't do this all the time.-
Indeed! It could be dangerous. May God bless you and protect you in this endeavour.
Bless you, brother, and I mean it. I have limited experience with Middle Eastern cuisine, but it has been totally positive. I can only imagine what it is like on the street. I ate street food while in Haiti ten years ago. Most rich westerners don't know what they're missing.
The gospel and biblical messages in general seem to be received completely differently in the east and in poor cultures than in the wealthy west. The avenues to the heart run in different directions.
Thank you all for the encouragement. I have become rather endeared to the Sermon on the Mount in my years here and have a strong preference now for using the Gospel over the Epistles as a resource with Muslims.
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